I Thought I Would Never See You Again
by embrooke
Summary: The spirit of Halloween is out for revenge against Pitch. His plan of attack? Getting ahold of someone that Pitch thought he would never see again. This story does have a few elements from the Guardians of Childhood series but nothing to worry about though that would confuse people. Rated M for later chapters. PitchxOC
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first Rise of the Guardians fanfiction. ENJOY!**

**I own nothing!**

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The Nightmare King slithered through the dark night. Sending nightmares in his wake as he passed the various houses in his last neighborhood for the night. Finally he made it to the house at the end of the street. He glanced at the seemingly normal home. It was different than the others; it was slightly bigger, and more modern than the other cookie cutter homes he sent his nightmares to.

Pitch made his way in to the two-story abode with the iron fence surrounding it, which put it more out of place in the neighborhood.

The first bedroom he came to, he simply passed by seeing as the parents gave themselves their own nightmares. He smirked as he finally made it to his intended target. He made his way into the room of a little four-year-old girl.

Pitch barely spared the pink princess themed room a glance as he looked down at the little girl, her curly tawny brown hair spread out on her pillow. Pitch observed as the small child dreamed sweet dreams of herself as a princess and flying on the back of a dragon over the countryside, courtesy of the Sandman.

"Time to get rid of those sweet dreams tiny princess."

Pitch tapped his finger on the dragon and watched in amusement as the dragon turned on its princess, but Pitch's look of amusement changed into one of confusion as he watched his nightmare sand turn back into the golden dream sand.

Pitch's curiosity was peaked. He had never seen this happen before, but instead of the dream going back to its original state, it instead shifted into an entirely new dream where the child was in a meadow and playing with fairies and other mythical creatures.

"This is most interesting." Pitch murmured to himself as he gave the girl another dose of nightmare sand, and like before his nightmare sand reverted to dream sand and the dream this time was of the child as a mermaid swimming with whales. The Nightmare King thought it would be a perfect opportunity to experiment and decided to give the small girl a continuous stream of nightmare sand, but once that happened the child wasn't able to change her dream or fight off the nightmares. She would attempt to get rid of the nightmare but it was futile as his sand swallowed the dream sand.

Pitch stopped his stream of black sand as the girl scrunched up her face and started to stir, but instead of yelling out like a normal child would. She just let a small whimper. Pitch watched in silence as the little girl opened her eyes and whispered, "Hello?"

"You are a most peculiar child indeed."

The child gasped at his voice and Pitch finally felt a spark of fear that he was so desperately after. But not only that, Pitch felt a spark of hope. Had she actually heard him?

"Who's there?" The little girl whispered into the darkness of her room.

"That would be me little one." Pitch proclaimed proudly as he stepped into the moonlight and looked down into the youthful grey eyes looking back at him.

Pitch couldn't contain his excitement. This child believed in him, he couldn't believe it.

"Who are you?" The girl asked quietly wrapping her arms around the stuffed elephant beside her.

"The boogeyman." He sneered at the girl.

Sadly Pitch didn't get the reaction he was looking for because that little speck of fear that the child held disappeared. Pitch watched in amazement as the child stood and held her hand out.

"I'm Ellie." She smiled up at him, waiting for him to take her hand.

The Nightmare King was at a lost. He wasn't expecting this. He chooses to ignore her hand. He had a plethora of questions he wanted to ask her and decided to ask her the question that was at the forefront of his mind.

"How where you able to change your nightmare back into a dream, dear child?"

Ellie dropped her hand down dejectedly, and sat back down on her bed.

"My daddy always told my that I could dream whatever I want so when it got scary I just changed it to something else." She began to frown, "But it wouldn't change in the end."

Pitch smirked, "That would have been my doing little one. I've never seen anybody, let alone a child change my nightmare sand while they're asleep."

The child's frown deepened, "Why would you give me nightmares?" Pitch looked down at the child with a look of annoyance. "Because I'm the Nightmare King of course!"

"But I thought you were the boogeyman?" Ellie stared up at him, a look of confusion on her face.

Pitch pinched the bridge of his nose, "Let me make this as simple as possible. Yes, I am the boogeyman, but that was a name given to me by others. My real name is Pitch Black, the Nightmare King." Pitch finished with gusto trying to terrify the child again, but it was another failure as Ellie wasn't even fazed.

"Pitch Black." Ellie said, trying the name out. She gave a nod. "Yes, I like that name. It's much better than the boogeyman."

Pitch just stared at the girl. He wasn't expecting this turn of events at all on his last stop of the night.

"So dear one, what made you to decide to believe in me?" Pitch inquired as he watched the girl mess with her elephant. This time instead of getting a spark of fear, he got a flame.

"My mommy said that if I wasn't good the boogeyman would come and get me and I would never see my daddy again." Pitch thanked Tsar Lunar for his good hearing or he would have never heard the child's small whisper.

Pitch let out a sigh, _'Really the lies that parents come up with.'_

"Well I love to burst your mother's bubble but I have no time or the patience to be stealing children in the night."

Ellie let out a giggle, "So you're not gonna take me?"

"No dear child, I'm not here to steal you away, just to give you nightmares." Pitch finally took a seat in an armchair next to the child's bed. This was the first conversation Pitch had since the Dark Ages and he wasn't about to give it up. Even if it was with a four-year-old.

"Why do you give people nightmares?" The child spoke without thinking.

"Because my job as the Nightmare King is to make sure people don't forget about fear."

"Why?"

"Because fear is an important emotion."

"Why?"

"Because if somebody is afraid it makes them cautious."

"What does cautious mean?"

Pitch forgot he was talking to a four-year-old.

"It means that they'll remember to be careful."

"What do people need to be careful of?" Pitch was starting to regret his decision on staying, and let out a sigh before answering, "Did your mother or father ever tell you what to do if a stranger decides to talk you into going with him or her?"

"Yes, never go with them and start yelling for help." The girl said proudly, happy that she remembered what her father taught her.

"I help people remember rules like that."

Elli let out an "oh" as she let that information sink into her four-year-old mind.

"So you're a good guy then!" The child said excitedly as she smiled innocently up at him.

Pitch was startled by her statement, no one had ever thought he was "good" by any means. Maybe he was in the very far past, but not anymore. Kozmotis Pitchiner died a long time ago. The Nightmare King decided to correct the girl.

"I am not good, do not misinterpret what I do as my job as something as good will." Pitch again forgot he was talking to a child, as she got a puzzled look upon her face.

"Forget about it, we will have that discussion at another time." Pitch decided it was time for him to turn the tide and ask her a question. "If you were afraid that I was going to take you from your parents then why were you so calm?"

"Because I thought if I was nice to the boogeyman then he would see that I was a good girl and not take me away from my daddy."

He decided to indulge the girl, "Well if my job was to take misbehaving children in the night I would have to say that plan of yours might have worked." Ellie let another giggle out, "Really?"

Pitch let out a small smile that felt foreign on his face as he nodded a yes to the child. The little girl just giggled again and squeezed her elephant in happiness, glad that her little plan would have worked.

Ellie tried to giggle around a yawn and he remembered that while this was his first non-one-sided conversation, he was dealing with a mortal and not only a mortal but a child, and mortal children needed their sleep. While he the Nightmare King, an immortal didn't require a full eight hours.

"Well my dear," Pitch stood up from the armchair, "I'm afraid that it's time to take my leave."

"But you'll come back right?" The child almost screamed, remembering that her parents were in the other room.

He decided not to answer directly, "Perhaps." And with that the Nightmare King disappeared into the shadows.

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**Please review because I would really appreciate it! If anyone would like to be my beta please message me! **


	2. Chapter 2

**So I've decided that I'm going to give myself the goal of updating this story once a week. This chapter was incredibly hard because I literally went back a hundred times editing it and reworking and geez I really wish I had a beta so if anyone is interested let me know! A shout out to vixen1991 and Ox King for reviewing the last chapter! I really appreciate you guys!**

**I own nothing!**

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**Present Day**

North lumbered around his workshop. He was doing his daily job of keeping the elves in line, making sure the yetis were meeting their daily quota of toys, and to make sure they were painting them the right color. He was currently in a conversation with one of the yeti's that was in charge of keeping his sleigh in order, but the conversation was cut short as the workshop started to quake and rumble, but as quick as it came, it stopped. Alerted the guardian of wonder made his way to globe room, but nothing was out of order. All the little lights on the globe were still lit, so the guardian just shrugged it off and made his way to his office and went about his day.

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E. Aster Bunnymund was currently working on this year's Easter eggs. He corralled them towards the painting flowers with the help of his egg warriors, but cursed as he too was hit with the same earthquake that hit North's workshop but he had no way of knowing this. And like before the earthquake was gone as quickly as it came but the pooka cursed some more as he looked at his cracked eggs irritated that he was going to have to start over.

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Toothiana flitted with her fairies, deciding to get back into the field after the incident with Pitch over a year ago. She went from house to house, collecting teeth and leaving whatever currency fitted the country she was currently in. She was chattering happily with Baby Tooth about the most recent tooth she received, but gasped as she watched the buildings shake and heard the rumble of the ground but let out a relieved sigh when it was over She was thankful that none of the houses had gotten destroyed but didn't think nothing else of the quake since it wasn't out of the ordinary for an earthquake to happen in this particular area.

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The guardian of fun was currently putting a beautiful frost on the ground for the town of Burgess to wake up to and was beginning to consider giving the town a nice white blanket of snow, to cause a snow day because its been awhile since he got to hang out with Jamie and the kdis, but the thought went out of his mind as he felt the current tree he was resting in starting to shake. When the minor earthquake was over Jack Frost let out a sigh, just glad that it was a small one and nothing to worry about, so he went back to spreading his snow and frost, the quake gone quickly from his mind.

* * *

The Sandman was currently at work, sending out good dreams to all the children but like Toothiana couldn't feel the quake but heard the rumble and watched the little houses shake. A frown was on his face as pictograms appeared above his head of his thoughts of the strange event, but like the guardians before him shrugged it off and marking it off as Mother Nature doing her work, but for some reason he just couldn't help but feel troubled about the event.

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Pitch Black was the only one who seemed to know that something was out of place when the quake hit his lair. In all his years an earthquake, especially one as small as this one; has never been able to penetrate his lair. The Nightmare King quickly went to his version of North's globe and gazed at it. Like North he checked and saw that all the believers' lights were still lit, but unlike at North's workshop the moon began to shine on a particular spot on the globe. Without having Tsar Lunar to say anything, Pitch knew exactly what the Man in the Moon was trying to communicate.

"This is most troublesome indeed."

* * *

The guardian of wonder was currently in his office working on his ice carvings and enchanting them as well. He had just gotten done with a lovely hot air balloon that was presently floating around the room, but the little hot air balloon's life was cut short as Phil the yeti burst into the room yelling in the yetis' language at North.

"How many times must I tell you to knock?!" North yelled angrily in his thick Russian accent, upset about the fate of his ice carving. Phil just ignored him as he continued to explain to North to follow him to the globe room. The guardian of wonder eventually did as he was told, and was shock to find the moon in perfect position in his window. North just nodded as Tsar Lunar told him his orders, and made his way over to engage the aurora borealis to call the other guardians to his workshop.

* * *

The guardians wasted no time in getting to North's workshop. While they knew it must have been something serious, they haven't been able to work together since the Pitch incident and had missed each other dearly. Although they might cross paths with one another while during their daily duties, it was just enough to tell each other hello and be on their way.

"Alright mate what is it?" Bunnymund said irritated as he was the last one to get there, "There was this bloody earthquake that cracked all me eggs, so I really don't have the bloody time."

"You felt the earthquake too?" Tooth flitted over to the pooka getting into his personal space, but then started rambling on how she technically she didn't feel the earthquake but saw it, but was interrupted as the rest of the guardians commented on how each of them had felt and heard the earthquake as well, with Sandy communicating his thoughts with his pictograms.

"Something is not right. I feel it in my belly." North said putting his hand on his huge gut for emphasis. Finally he looked at the full moon that was shining down on all them, basking them in it's blue light.

"Manny, surely you know what's going on? Please tell us."

The guardians watched in silence as he started communicating through his moonbeams the problem that was at hand, and they heard Tsar Lunar's strong kind voice in their minds.

"Many years ago when the Nightmare King was at his strongest, there was another that rivaled his power, but the difference between him and Pitch was that he was much more cruel, and much more wicked. While Pitch was content with being believed in, and spreading his nightmares, this figure wanted more and more power. He wanted the people in the world to fear him, and submit to him. He wanted to rule them." The group watched as the words of Tsar Lunar translated into the moonbeams' pictures and they showed the silhouette of Pitch and the silhouette of someone much taller, and more menacing than the Nightmare King. "This person gained a cult of followers and in that time he started getting stronger and stronger, but the way he gained his power was despicable."

"How did he gain his power?" Jack asked getting unnerved by the idea that someone was worst than Pitch.

The moonbeams then shifted to show what looked like an uplifted table, a pedestal with a silhouette of a body on it.

"By human sacrifice." The Man in the Moon answered. Tooth turned her head away in disgust as the moonbeams showed the process. The rest of the guardians watched in horror as the person's heart was removed and then devoured by the menacing figure. "The catch is though," Tsar Lunar continued, "He has to eat a believers heart. The older a believer, the stronger their heart is."

"Just who are we dealing with Manny?" North asked, getting more troubled by the minute.

"Crom Cruach, the very first spirit of Halloween or back then it was known as Samhain."

The Guardians let out a collective gasp except for Jack Frost still being the youngest sprite didn't quite understand.

"Is that why we've never had a Halloween spirit?" Bunnymund asked hesitantly.

"Yes. Back in the Dark Ages when both Crom's and Pitch's power were at their highest before Pitch's imprisonment by my personal guardian Nightlight, the two although both powerful and dark, were at odds with each other. Pitch wasn't fond of the killings of the believers, not only was it interceding on his power as well, but it was the most evil of acts to him. You must remember Pitch was a strong and good general before and I believe there is still a speck of good in him now. Pitch, dark as he is now, would never consider killing a child."

The moonbeams began to shift as Manny began to tell the story of Crom Cruach's fate. "Pitch came to Sanderson personally and called a temporary truce. They tried to thoroughly banish Crom but it was no use as he was more powerful than the both of them, so instead the Nightmare King with the help of Sanderson were able to entrap the Samhain spirit by using an enchantment that Pitch had come across on, but that was many years ago and the enchantment has weakened and now Crom is back and out for revenge."

"Revenge against Pitch." North stated looking solemn.

"Where is Crom now?" The guardian of hope asked looking up at the full moon.

"He was sealed in Ireland, his place of origin, but he has moved location since he has broken free."

"Do you have any idea of what his plan is or where he is now?" Toothiana flitted about trying to calm her nerves about the situation.

"He will want to get his full strength back, and will be after the oldest believers, but he will use that plan as a means to get his revenge on Pitch. When he was sealed away the lack human sacrifices took his toll on him and he is weak at the moment, but as for where he is I do not know, at the last moment before I lost track of him, he was able to cast a spell to block me from finding his whereabouts. Your objective now is to go to Pitch Black and get him to help you and help him in return."

"Pitch isn't going to help us, and I don't think he wants to, besides this is obviously between Crom and him. Why should we get involved? Crom wants to get revenge on Pitch, not us." Jack said interrupting. The other guardians were quiet as they silently agreed that the young spirit had a point.

"Because if Crom was able to get the revenge he desires then he will begin the human sacrifices again and he would in the end, ultimately achieve the power he wanted so long ago." The group turned as the Nightmare King appeared from the shadows. "While I cringe at the idea of putting aside our difference, and 'joining forces,' " Pitch said using air quotes, "I guess I while just have to suck it up."

"Why do you really want to help?" Bunnymund asked glaring at the dark figure.

Pitch simply looked up at the moon, "Because I was promised something in return."

"Of course," Bunnymund scoffed at him. "Only helping to help yourself."

"Well pooka we can't all be as noble as you. Besides you have no chance of defeating Crom without me so it would've only been a matter of time before you came crawling to my doorstep."

Sandy took this as his cue to step in before a fight broke out, the little man stuck out his hand to the Nightmare King to propose a truce like he did those many years ago. "Very well." Pitch said shaking the little man's hand.

"While I'll be Crom's first priority, he isn't any position to attack at the moment. Like Tsar Lunar explained before, the lack of human sacrifices has made him incredibly weak. Therefore he's going to be after believers, but only the ones that are beyond the age of believing."

"So, if Crom is after the oldest believers, and he is weak at the moment, what should be our plan of action?" North asked stroking his beard and one of the few in the room that was keeping a level head about the whole situation.

"We find out who the oldest believers are and watch them or maybe bring back to your workshop for protection. We look for believers eighteen and older. Crom won't bother with anyone younger." Sandy nodded his head in agreement, but then started communicating with Pitch in his normal way, asking how they were going to find the older believers.

"That my dear Sanderson, I have already figured out." Pitch stated proudly.

"And how is that exactly?" Tooth asked wearily not sure if she was going to like the Nightmare King's methods or not.

Before Pitch could answer Tsar Lunar's voice was booming in their heads, "While you are right about him not him bothering anyone younger than eighteen, he will only be after just one believer."

"Why just a certain one?" Jack yelled back a look of confusion on his face.

"Crom wants revenge so he is after a believer that is tied to Pitch. He wants this believer to be the first sacrifice, this person will be the one that brings him back to power and how he will ultimately get his revenge on Pitch Black."

"How do you know that he's defiantly after one believer?" Tooth asked wondering how the Man in the Moon would know such a thing.

"Because my dear Tooth, I know Crom. I know his methods. He's very vindictive and has never taken to losing well. While the wisest move would to just go and get any believer, Crom doesn't work that way, and that is where we'll have the advantage." The Man in the Moon answered her.

Sandy looked toward Pitch because he was the only person beside the Man in the Moon who knew who the one person that Crom would be after. Pitch however had a look of fury on his face.

"What believer would be tied to that bloke?" Bunnymund laughed disbelievingly.

Tsar Lunar took a while to answer, letting Pitch know that he would do what he could to protect this person that was tied to him.

"Well, who is it?" Jack asked, getting impatient which caused Tooth to knock him on the back of the head for being rude.

"Her name is Eleanor Hines."

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**Review if you like and if not well then I hope you liked this chapter anyway! Once again I'm looking for a beta so please message me if you're interested!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright! Third Chapter! A shout out to vixen1991 for reviewing again! I totally appreciate it, and to Evil Ed 666 thanks for the review as well and yes just to make it clear for anybody who didn't know this is a heterosexual pairing! By the way I don't own anything and I'm still in the never ending search for a beta!**

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She was going to be lucky if Ms. Bennett didn't fire her. On top of her roommate hogging the bathroom, and her car's dead battery, she was going to be late. She was never late; Ellie took pride in the fact that she was always punctual.

Ellie was finally on the street that the Bennett's lived on and quickly ran up the porch stairs and knocked on the door. As soon as Ms. Bennett opened the door, Ellie began apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry Ms. Bennett my car wouldn't start and my roommate doesn't have a car and…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The older woman put her hand up to stop the young girl's apology. "It's okay, you were bound to be late one time or another." Ms. Bennett said giving Ellie a comforting smile. "Now come on in, Jamie and Sophie are in the living room watching TV." Ellie made her way inside and greeted Jamie and Sophie.

How Ellie lucked out and got this babysitting gig she didn't know, but she was thankful for it. Jamie and Sophie were awesome kids and the only one she had to really entertain was Sophie since half the time Jamie would go off with the other kids in the neighborhood.

Ellie sat curled up on the couch as she joined kids watching their Saturday morning cartoons.

"Alright kids I'm off!" Ms. Bennett kissed each of her children on the top of their heads goodbye, "Be good for Ellie or there will be consequences." She warned, but the children of coursed reassured her they would be good as she was finally out the door and off to the diner that she worked at on the weekends.

Ellie was really lucky being able to babysit for the Bennett's on the weekends. Ms. Bennett paid decent enough that she had a little bit of pocket change on the weekend and as long as the kids were entertained or when Sophie was taking a nap she could catch up on her studies.

Ellie cleared her throat as the current cartoon they were watching came to an end, "Okay kids, what's the plan for today?"

"Can we go to the park? I was going to meet my friends today for a snowball fight." Jamie asked picking up his and Sophie's cereal bowls from the floor and putting them in the sink.

"Park, park, park!" Sophie chimed in as she got up and began putting on her jacket, and snow boots.

Ellie let out laugh, "The park it is then."

Ellie quickly got the kids ready and made sure they were snug and warm before they began their walk to the park. It didn't take long and when they did make it there they were quickly barraged with snowballs by Jamie's friends and Ellie had no problem with joining in on the fun and fought back with just as much force as the kids.

It wasn't long though before Ellie was out of breath from running around and dodging the many snowballs that headed her way. She grabbed Sophie's hand and took her to a nearby bench so the both of them could have a breather. Jamie ran over to his babysitter and his sister, "Tired already?" He laughed at them out of breath. Ellie just nodded as she was getting her breath, and heard the girl, Pippa, yell over at Jamie, "Jamie, where has Jack been lately?"

Ellie looked up at Jamie in confusion. She had never heard of a kid named Jack. Ellie was pretty familiar with all of Jamie's friends but this is the first time she had heard of anyone named Jack. "Jack? Who's Jack, Jamie?"

"Jack Frost of course!"

"He's real?" Ellie looked at him in bewilderment.

"Yeah, the next time he comes into town I'll have to introduce you!"

"You're talking about the real Jack Frost. The one that nips at your nose?" Ellie asked in wonderment.

"Of course, who else?"

"You met him?"

"Yeah, last year." Jamie and the rest of the kids then began to tell Ellie the story of how Pitch Black had tried to destroy their beliefs in the Guardians. Ellie listened to Jamie enraptured. She couldn't believe that these kids got to meet Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy!

Jamie was confused as he watched Ellie's reaction as he told his story of what happened over a year ago. To be honest, this wasn't the reaction he was expecting. It was like she actually believed him and that wasn't something he expected from the eighteen-year-old.

"Do you really believe in the Guardians?" Pippa finally asked Ellie.

"Of course I do!" Ellie took in the surprised expressions around her. "Is that bad?"

"No way!" Monty chimed in as he pushed his glasses up from the tip of his nose. "It's just that…"

"We've never really expected an adult to believe in them." Cupcake finished for him. Ellie just nodded in understanding, "Well believe it. This girl believes in the guardians." She said smiling at the children surrounding to her.

While the normal young adult would didn't take the kids and their story seriously. Ellie was different. She knew Jamie wasn't a liar and when he did lie, she knew what to look for. One specific sign was that he wouldn't look her in the eye.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. The rest of the day was filled with coloring and games of pretend with Sophie while Jamie spent time with his friends but arrived home just in time for an afternoon snack were Ellie made her world famous Puppy Chow. The trio sat at the kitchen table happily eating the sugary snack when Jamie asked "Will you tell us a story before you leave Ellie?"

"Please, please, please!" Sophie looked up at her with her big green eyes.

"Of course, of course! What story would you like to hear? "

If there was one thing that Ellie was good at it. It was story telling. Well that and drawing, but she loved telling the kids stories. Weather it was something she completely made up or one of the classics or a combination of both; she loved telling stories and transporting herself and her audience into another world.

"Peter Pan!" Sophie shouted out.

So Ellie began telling the daring story of Peter Pan. She narrated the whole entire story, changing her voice to match the different characters, using big arm movements and gestures to get them more into the story and even sometimes making Jamie and Sophie act out some of the more exciting parts with her, but sadly they couldn't finish the story in time because the children's mother got home promptly at 5:15.

Ellie said goodbye to the kids, got her money, and began the walk back to her apartment. It wasn't a long walk, but it would've been easier if she had her car.

Ellie was very happy that when she got back to her apartment there was no one there. As much as she loved her roommate she was still kind of mad that she hogged the bathroom this morning.

"Guess she's out for the evening." Ellie mumbled to herself but she spoke to soon as a girl with short blonde hair busted through the door carrying groceries.

"Lily!" Ellie exclaimed as she rushed to help the shorter girl with grocery bags that were about to tumble out of her arms. "Why didn't you tell me you were going grocery shopping today?"

"Because these aren't groceries per say. This is just the stuff for the dinner I'm making tonight for me and Michael." The blonde explained as she started emptying the bags on the counter.

"You didn't tell me Michael was coming over." Ellie said dumbfounded and a little irritated.

"I know, because it's last minute, so I need you to let me have the apartment for the evening pretty please!" Lily finally turned around to face her with hands clasped in front of her face, begging the brunette to let her have some alone time with her boyfriend.

"Fine." Ellie let out an exasperated sigh, "I need to go to the library to study for an exam anyway." The short blonde let out an excited squeal as she threw her arms around her best friend in a hug.

As much as she loved Lily, and she had some flaws that Ellie couldn't stand such as making last minute plans that involved kicking her out of her own apartment and hogging the bathroom at the worst moments, she loved her anyway, and could deal with it. She guessed that's why their friendship survived since the seventh grade.

Ellie swiftly stuffed the books that she needed and her laptop into her bag and made her way to the library.

Burgess College was a small private college, which was Ellie had chosen it. She liked small and not to mention it was as far away from her town as she could get. The college had a great English program and once she was done getting her bachelor's degree she was even considering getting her master's somewhere else.

The library was pretty much empty when she got there except for the occasional librarian and student worker. Ellie made her way upstairs to where it was required to be quiet and found her usual spot in the corner and quickly got to work.

* * *

After Tsar Lunar made the announcement on whom Crom was after, the guardians and Pitch quickly got to work to locate the girl. Luckily it wasn't that hard because for some reason the girl's name stuck out in North's mind. The large man quickly headed for the elevator with the rest of the guardians and Pitch in tow. North quickly ordered the yeti to take them down to the basement.

The basement of North's workshop was huge, and went several stories below ground and filled with nothing but filing cabinets lining the walls.

"What is this?" Jack asked as he watched some of the yetis taking files either altering them, and putting new ones in.

"I keep track of every child and every gift I have ever given them." North explained as he began walking towards one of the yetis.

"Eleanor Hines. Bring me the child's file." North ordered the yeti and he quickly went to work finding the file.

"Why do you keep a file of every child mate?" Bunnymund questioned as he opened the closest filing drawer and was surprised at it came out at a length that wasn't normal at all. It had to come out at least five feet if Pitch had to guess. The guardians looked as they saw that the whole drawer was filled with every child with a last name that began with an "a."

"I have my reasons." North answered vaguely as he pulled one of the files out at random and began reminiscing as he read what the child had asked for, for different Christmases.

"How is this place organized?" Pitch probed, interrupting North from his memories.

"Every file is organized, by last name, and by where they live. The yetis down here are constantly updating and rearranging." North answered putting the file back in its rightful place and began walking toward where the group saw the yeti run off.

"Ever considered making everything electronic?" Jack laughed as he continued to glance at all the filing cabinets and saw that they were still in the "a" section.

"Eh. We're working on it." North said shrugging.

It wasn't too long before the yeti returned to them and carrying Eleanor's file. North quickly took it and opened it, and put a hand to his chin, rubbing it in thought.

"Now I know why this girl's name stuck out." He finally said as he finished reading her file. North looked up at Pitch. "How are you tied this girl?" North finally asked the question that was on the other guardians' mind, except save for the Sandman.

Pitch was silent; he didn't want to tell the guardians anything. It wasn't that not only it would make him seem soft, but also he kept quiet about it for a reason. The only reason that Sanderson knew about the girl was because he had gone to see him once on the girl's behalf many years ago. Pitch lucked out though as the oldest guardian spoke up for him as he communicated through his pictograms saying that they didn't have time for stories and that time was of the essence.

North decided to let it go, but the Sandman suffered from complaints from Bunnymand and the guardian of fun, while Tooth fluttered by silently before speaking up.

"Pitch will tell us when the time comes." Tooth said as she calmed the Pooka and the winter sprite down.

Pitch was thankful for both the Tooth Fairy and Sanderson for speaking up on his behalf, but it would be a many of a hundred years before he told either one of them that.

"I think you should take a look at her file." North finally said handing the Nightmare King Eleanor's file.

Pitch read the file. He supposed it was normal until he finally got to a Christmas when she was eleven, she asked for a specific stuffed elephant. One that Pitch remembered that she had since she was four, but then she asked for that same elephant the next Christmas, and the next, and the next, even till she was seventeen. Pitch kept reading and saw that she still wanted the same elephant for this Christmas as well, and Christmas wasn't that far away.

Pitch was about to close the file until he saw the letters that she wrote to North, he was about to read it, but North stopped him.

"Save that for another time. We must go and get the girl."

Pitch just nodded in agreement, still confused over the girl's Christmas wishes, but he decided to put in the back of his mind as he handed Eleanor's file back to North, who in return handed back to the yeti.

"She moved from her hometown." Pitch said finally speaking, "She's in Burgress."

"Maybe Jamie will know her!" The guardian of fun exclaimed, excited that he would get to see his young friend again.

"We will go now." North commanded as he led them to his sleigh, much to Bunnymund's protests.

"Scared Pooka?" The Nightmare King snickered, relishing in the Easter Bunny's fear, but the guardian of hope just glared at him as they got settled in North's sleigh. They didn't have to wait long as they were off and going through one of North's snow globe portals.

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**So I hope everyone liked the chapter! Review if you so desire and if you don't I hope you at least liked the chapter and if you didn't please offer on how I could've made it better and what not. Thank you all for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**While this chapter I think is a little bit shorter than the previous two chapters, a lot of stuff actually happens I guess? And I also alternating between Pitch's and Ellie's point of view in this chapter as well. I kind of wanted to keep going too but I found a good place to stop so I did. Another shout out to vixen1991 for reviewing which I appreciate so much!  
I own nothing!**

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Pitch and the guardians quickly made their way to the Bennett house. Pitch thought it would be wise if he waited outside, while the guardians went and saw the boy in his room. But that idea was thrown out the window as the Nightmare King saw the young boy and his sister run outside to great the guardians, but they stopped short once they saw the towering figure of the boogeyman and Jamie quickly pushed his small sister behind him.

"What is he doing here?" Jamie asked giving Pitch the best glare he could muster.

"He's actually helping us," Jack began explaining to his mortal friend, "We need to find somebody and she maybe here."

"Who is it?" Jamie inquired but never taking his eyes off of the Nightmare King as he continued to glare at him.

"Her name is Eleanor Hines." Pitch said cutting in and slinked closer towards the child and his sister.

"Ellie, Ellie, Ellie!" Pitched watched as the boy's younger sister got excited and finally was able to get around her brother and run towards Bunnymund giving his leg a hug.

"Hey little ankle-biter." Bunnymund smiled down fondly at the little girl, picking her up.

"So you know her, how?" Pitch asked turning his attention back to the boy who wouldn't get the stupid glare off his face, which was really beginning to irritate him.

"She babysits us." The young boy answered simply, "But why do you need her?"

"It would honestly be best if we didn't tell you Jamie." Tooth flew over to the boy, "But trust us when we say that we really need to see her."

"Will he hurt her?" Jamie pointed to Pitch.

Pitch let out an exasperated sigh. They were wasting time. "No boy, I will not harm the girl, we are trying to keep her safe and that's all you need to know."

Jamie stared at the Nightmare King, as if deciding if he was telling the truth or not, but finally he figured that as long as the guardians were around than no harm would come to his babysitter.

"I can take you to her apartment. It's not that far of a walk from my house."

"What about your mom?" Tooth asked him.

"Give me a second!" Jamie said running back inside of his house, but coming back shortly later with his and Sophie's winter coats. "Mom is taking a nap," he explained as he put Sophie's coat on her and began leading the strange group of the guardians and the Nightmare King down the street. "If this trip is quick, we should make it back before she wakes up."

"So Eleanor is your babysitter. Did you know that she was believer?" Jack asked his young friend as they were making their way to the apartment building. "We actually just found out that she was today, actually. We told her about you." Jamie smiled at his favorite guardian. "And everything that happened last year." He quickly looked over at Pitch who just sneered at the boy. Pitch had a feeling that he would have to explain himself to the girl later when they were finally reunited.

"What is she like?" Tooth cut in, fluttering excitedly next Jamie.

"She's really nice, and cool and uh…really pretty." Jamie finished blushing. Pitch just rolled his eyes.

"Stories, stories, stories!" Sophie chirped excitedly from Bunnymund's shoulder. "Oh yeah she defiantly tells the best stories." Jamie explained, interpreting his young sister's talk. _'It's defiantly her.'_ Pitch thought as they continued their way.

It wasn't long before they made it to Eleanor's apartment building, and that was when Pitch started to feel nervous, and it had been many years since the Nightmare King was nervous about anything. Pitch hadn't seen Eleanor in so long, _'I wonder what she looks like. From what the brat said she's pretty. I bet she's beautiful. She's a young woman now. Will she be happy to see me after all these years?'_ Pitch was relieved that he was trailing in the back of the group, but he quickly regained his composure as they were faced with Eleanor's apartment door. Jamie knocked on it a couple of times, and it wasn't long before a short blonde girl who was looking a little disheveled opened the door. The blonde quickly looked down at the young boy. '_Clearly not a believer_.' Pitch deduced.

"Jamie!" The girl exclaimed pushing up a fallen spaghetti strap and keeping the door closed as much as she could so that the boy couldn't peer inside.

Pitch could only guess what the girl was doing before.

"Hey Lily, is Ellie here?" Jamie asked, oblivious to the girl's flustered state.

"Umm…no. She's at the library studying. Why? Is everything okay?" The girl asked, concern in her voice as she looked down at him.

"Tell her everything is fine." North whispered in Jamie's ear. "Tell her that you just needed to ask Eleanor something, but you'll head home now." North finished his instructions.

"No everything is fine." Jamie told that small blonde. "Sophie and I just had to ask Ellie something but we'll go home now since she isn't here." Jamie holding his sister's hand turned to leave.

"Well, wait!" The blonde said stopping them. "Give me a minute and I'll walk you two home." Before Jamie could protest Lily shut the door.

"Make your way to the college campus, I'm sure you know where it is." Jamie instructed to Jack in a whisper. "I've been to the library with Ellie before and it's going to be the building with two fountains in front of it and on the front of the building it'll have Kimball Library. You can't miss it." He finished as Lily came out of the apartment with winter appropriate clothing on instead of the simple tank top she had on before and with a male companion following behind her. The guardians and Pitch waited until the group was out of sight before making heading towards the building that Jamie had described.

Jack Frost led the way flying with the help of the wind, and had Pitch following closely behind him on one of his nightmares. "Someone is excited." The guardian of fun teased, but Pitch kept his face blank, but he acknowledge that the winter sprite was right._ 'It has been a long time since I've seen my one and only friend.' _

Jack and Pitch landed at the entrance of the library and Pitch quickly dismissed the nightmare. A few seconds later the rest of the group quickly caught up.

"Time to finally meet this sheila." Bunnymund stated, opening the door.

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Ellie was about to start banging her head against the table. If there was one thing she hated it was post-modern art. Why she took an art history class as one of her electives she will never know.

Ellie let out of her thirtieth exasperated sigh of the hour and decided it was time to change tactics. "I'll work on my research paper for a while and then come to this later." She said resolutely as she stood up, cracking her back in the process.

Ellie began making her way through the book shelves of the library searching for a book that would help her with her topic when she stopped, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. Ellie quickly turned around to look behind her but there was nothing there. Not a soul. Ellie tried to shrug the feeling off as her just being paranoid because she was alone. She continued to make her way through the stacks of books but the feeling just wouldn't go away. Ellie gave up and quickly made her way back to her bag and packed her things as fast as she could. She was frightened now, she has had this feeling in the past and it never bode well for her. The brunette quickly made her way down the stairs, jumping the last two steps, and was practically running to get out of the door, but she let out a sound of surprise as she ran into a lean muscled chest.

Ellie started spouting out apologizes profusely until a voice with a British accent whispered, "Eleanor."

Ellie looked up at who possessed the voice and let out a gasp. It was a man, or at least Ellie thought it was a man. He was holding her shoulders, steadying her after she had run into him. Ellie took in his pale gray, skin and his black clothing, but when she looked into his eyes it was like all coherent thought left it her. He had golden yellow eyes and was looking at her like he hadn't seen in a long time. Like he was reunited with a long lost friend. But then Ellie remembered that she was running, from whatever horrible presence that she felt.

The brunette let out a scream as she felt her legs come out from under her as she was dragged towards the opposite end of the library. She looked up desperately at the man that she had run into and heard him shout but everything was a blur as she clawed at the ground trying to get a hold of anything she could but it was proving to be futile. Something was wrapped tightly around her leg and it wasn't letting go anytime soon. Ellie quickly looked back to see what was dragging her and she let out another scream when she saw the cloaked figure. Ellie didn't know proper names of weapons but if she had to guess, the cloaked man had a chain-sickle and the chain part was currently wrapped around her leg, but that wasn't what worried her. What did worry her was that she was being dragged at an inhuman speed to this man, who clearly didn't have good intentions.

The frightened girl soon relaxed for a little bit as the chain around her leg relaxed and she looked up and saw that the man from before it chopped it with a giant black scythe but before she could process anything all she heard was a booming voice with a Russian accent.

"BUNNY GET THE GIRL TO SAFETY!"

Ellie then felt what had to be paws under her armpits pulling her up in a standing position, and was looking into the eyes of a seven-foot tall rabbit and then something clicked.

"You're the Easter Bunny." She whispered awestruck.

"Yeah I am." The tall rabbit answered simply. "But we don't have time for that. Now climb on!" He motioned for her to get on his back.

Ellie hesitated but only for a second when there was an explosion that threw her forward and she quickly wrapped her arms around the huge bunny's neck, and disappeared down a rabbit hole.

* * *

Pitch felt the fear an soon as he walked into the building. Someone indeed was very frightened, which was odd considering where they were, but he didn't have time to dwell on that when he felt another body smash into his, the feeling was foreign to him haven't had any contact in so long, he quickly grabbed whoever it was by the shoulders as to steady them and was met with a pair of gray eyes that he would know anywhere and hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Eleanor." The Nightmare King whispered breathlessly. He looked at her; he hadn't seen her in so long. She was defiantly a lot taller than the last time he had seen her, she still had the same curly tawny brown hair, but if it wasn't for her eyes Pitch might have not known it was her. Something was wrong though. She was frightened and he knew she must have been the one that he sensed, but there was something else though. There wasn't a bit of recognition in her eyes at all. Pitch opened his mouth to say something else but soon Eleanor was ripped from his grasp as he felt her shoulders leave his hands and he heard her scream as she was dragged away from him.

He let out a shout as he saw who was dragging her away. It was a man in a cloak but it was clearly no ordinary man, and with the strength and speed that he was using to drag Eleanor away from him. He heard Eleanor scream again and Pitch quickly moved and summoned his scythe and cut the chain that the man was using, he faintly heard North ordering the Pooka to get the girl to safety but his focus was on the cloaked figure. While it wasn't Crom, it was a follower of him judging by the bloody crescent symbol that was on his cloak. Pitch watched as Jack's ice headed toward the figure, but of instead of hitting the man like Pitch expected, the man retaliated with a blast of his own, but it wasn't any kind of natural element that Pitch knew of. When both Jack's ice and the man's blast hit, it resulted in an explosion that knocked Pitch to the side, but he quickly recovered.

The Nightmare King rushed towards the man with his scythe, and swung at him multiple times but the man continued dodging him until he was cornered by North as well, who had his two sabers pointed at the mysterious man, but both North and Pitch had to dodge as the man swung his chain-sickle making them back off. The sickle part almost hitting North. Pitch went on the defensive as the man focused his attention on him, but it was futile as Sanderson intervened with his sand whips knocking the man on the ground as the Sandman wrapped his whips around his legs and taking his legs out from under him. Toothiana moved to go in for the final blow but stopped short at the man aimed one of his blasts from before at her, but she moved out the way in time.

"Crom Cruach will rise again." A youthful male voice spoke from beneath the hood of the cloak, but before anyone could react the man teleported out of there in a puff of smoke.

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**Yeah so Kimball Library is named after my college's library and I'm actually taking history of post-modern art and it sucks! So I wanted Ellie to feel my pain! But anyways I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and please leave reviews if you wish, and if you didn't like this chapter please tell me how I could've improved. And once again I'm still looking for a beta!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry but this chapter is a little short but I promise a long chapter next time! I would like to thank vixen1991 for always reviewing my chapters since I started and kayciarika, Raychoo, and Dontgotaclue88 for reviewing as well! Also a shout out for Lucerna Tenebris for volunteering to be my beta! I don't own anything!**

**I would also just like to mention that this is a flashback chapter! Which means that Ellie is five in this chapter and it's been a year or so since Pitch and her got to one another. **

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_Thirteen Years Earlier_

Ellie kept her eyes fixed on the spot where Pitch first appeared to her. She was waiting. She was waiting for the boogeyman to arrive. The little girl let out a giggle at the thought. Ellie smiled as she clutched her elephant to her as she lay down in her bed. Ellie really liked Pitch. He was her special friend. Sure, she had her friends at school, but Pitch was her favorite. After she met Pitch the first time she was sad that he didn't come back the next night, or the next, or the next, but she was so terribly happy when he did finally visit her again and she told him so. And from there on he had visited her every night since.

At first Ellie would bombard him with questions. "How old are you?" She would ask. "Very old." He would answer simply. "What's your favorite color?" She would question. "Grey." He would respond. But he would only let her ask a few questions each night and if she asked the wrong question he would tell her to ask a different one. Ellie quickly learned what kind of questions to avoid asking her friend. But through the many nights of asking Pitch the few questions she was allowed, she learned a lot about him and his world. He told her about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman and how they were real, but from the tone that he took when talking about them, she had the feeling that for some reason her friend didn't like them very much. Her five year-old mind couldn't fathom why though. Who wouldn't like Santa Claus? But she knew better than to ask. She was pretty sure that type of question would be off limits.

Since Ellie asked Pitch questions, The Nightmare King would ask her questions in return. "What's your favorite thing to do?" He would ask. "Tell stories." She answered him excitedly. "What else do you like to do?" The Nightmare King would ask his young friend. "Draw!" She would answer him again with the same enthusiasm. Ellie then decided after they got to know each other fairly well she would start telling him the stories that she would tell her father every night when he tucked her into bed. Ellie also got into the habit of drawing something for Pitch every now and then as well. Her dark friend had quite a collection of self-portraits of the artist herself and many portraits of him as well. That was one of the things she liked about Pitch, he was a good listener and he never complained when she made him participate in the stories that she came up with and he always thanked her and told her what a good job she did when she gave him a new drawing. Ellie did what she could because she wanted to make sure her friend was happy, and he did the same. On her fifth birthday he gave her a beautiful figurine of a princess that was made out of his nightmare sand. Ellie being the smart little girl that she is hid the figurine in her secret hiding spot, under a loose floorboard in her closet with a few other things she kept hidden. Whenever Ellie took it out to admire it, she was always very careful with it. She would hate to break something that her friend worked so hard on to make for her.

The King of Nightmares and the little girl became fast friends. It was strange for Pitch and he was wary at first, but it had been so long since he had a friend much less somebody to talk to and Tsar Lunar wasn't exactly a talker. The only other person that Pitch would even consider talking to was the Sandman and it had been a very long time since they were on speaking terms. Pitch Black didn't really care that his friend was a four year-old girl in the early stages of their friendship because he figured that as soon as he tired of her he could just simply stop visiting her. But that train of thought changed as he got to know the girl more and more and saw just how truly interesting she was. And then Pitch realized that he cared for this little girl with the tawny brown hair and grey eyes. The little girl that was able to turn his nightmares back into golden dreams.

The weight of how much her companionship meant to him hit him when his nightly visits finally caught the attention of Sanderson Mansnoozie. The Sandman began to notice that Ellie was dreaming of him, and the fact that they weren't nightmares but pleasant dreams was what caught his interest. Luckily the Sandman refrained from informing the other guardians and Pitch was able to convince him that he had no intention of harming the girl. He even hit a little below the belt to remind the Sandman that not everybody had the millions of believers that he did. But Pitch did what he had to do to ensure that he would be able to continue his visits to Ellie. The thought of not seeing her was a troubling thought for him.

Ellie then saw a pair of golden eyes peering out at her from the darkness. The small girl let out another giggle as Pitch appeared before her. The Nightmare King smiled fondly down at the girl as he settled into the armchair next to her bed.

"Pitch you finally made it!" Ellie smiled up at him, glad that he finally came to her. "I was getting afraid that you wouldn't come tonight." The child pouted, sticking her bottom lip out.

Pitch just shook his head and looked over at the girl, "I'm sorry my dear. I started my work a little late tonight."

Ellie's pout disappeared as she smiled at him again, "It's okay!"

"So dear one, what story are you going to tell me tonight?" Pitch rested his cheek on his hand as he looked at the little girl he visited every night. Like Ellie, Pitch was able to find a great deal about small child by the questions he asked her, but unlike Ellie, Pitch was able to read between the lines. The child admired her father a great deal but the little girl didn't talk much about her mother. She told him about the friends she made at school, but he did stress to the girl that it was probably best that she kept their friendship a secret.

Ellie moved so that she was sitting at the edge of the bed, her elephant in her lap, and looked down at her hands as she thought of the story she was going to tell her dark friend.

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a princess." Ellie began her story in the cliché fashion that she heard so often. "The princess was in the castle gardens painting one day when the royal messenger came to her. 'The Nightmare King is in trouble!'" Ellie changed her voice so that it was higher as she acted out the part. "The princess had heard of The Nightmare King before, but she never had the chance to meet him before, so she demanded that the messenger tell her what happened. 'A dragon took him!'" Ellie changed her voice again. Ellie then jumped off her bed and grabbed Pitch's hand and dragged him toward the far corner of her princess themed room and handed him her stuff dragon that was sitting in a pile with her many other stuffed animals. "The brave princess then hopped onto her warrior elephant." Pitch watched in amusement as the small girl raced back to her bed and grabbed her elephant. "The princess raced to The Nightmare King as quick as she could." Ellie ran around the room. "She finally found the dragon's lair." She stopped in font of Pitch who was still holding the stuffed dragon in his hands. "And with the help of her mighty elephant," Ellie knocked the dragon out of Pitch's hands using her elephant, "and slayed the dragon." For emphasis she kicked the poor stuffed dragon clear across the room, knocking over her little pink wastebasket that she had.

"And what happened to The Nightmare King?" Pitch finally asked her, still amused over her display of kicking the poor dragon.

Innocent grey eyes met golden yellow as Ellie looked up at her special friend. "The Nightmare King came back with the princess, to her castle. The princess and The Nightmare King were best friends and they were together forever and, " Ellie let out a big yawn and Pitch took his cue and scooped the small child up in his arms, "for always." Ellie finished as she clung to Pitch who carried her over to her big pink bed and tucked her in. "You'll stay with me always. Won't you Pitch?" The little girl asked him sleepily, grey eyes looking into his golden yellow ones. Pitch looked down at the child, his usual harden expression replaced with a look of tenderness. Pitch bent forward and kissed his one and only friend on the forehead. "Always, my little princess."

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**Once again I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but good news! I already have the next chapter in the works! But anyways leave reviews if you so desire! I always welcome constructive criticism! You guys are awesome! Oh and if anybody has a tumblr, the link to mine is my profile and I would love to talk to you all!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So this is my longest chapter yet! And we are back in present time! Another big thanks to Lucerna Tenebris for being my beta and a big thanks to vixen1991, Wolvei'sBiggestFan, LuluCalliope, thraxbaby, paigeafterpaige, and Dontgotaclue88 for reviewing my last chapter!  
This chapter by the way, takes place right after chapter 4, so it's not another flashback! Also I kind of combined movie Bunnymund with book Bunnymund as well and in the book, Bunnymund is OBSESSED with eggs and their shape and chocolate and the guy is a genius as well. But anyways.**

**I don't own anything!**

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The trip through the rabbit hole went by in a blur for Ellie. The Easter Bunny was traveling so fast that Ellie had to look down and focus on the pooka's back to prevent herself from getting sick. It wasn't long at all until the rabbit came to a stop and dropped Ellie unceremoniously on the ground. She let out an "oomf" and looked up at the tall rabbit.

"Sorry." The Easter Bunny said simply looking down at her.

"So you're the Easter Bunny?" Ellie asked him again like she did before they left the chaos at the library.

"Bunnymund." The pooka told her.

"What?" Ellie continued to look at him, a confused look crossing her face.

"My given name is E. Aster Bunnymund but most people call me Bunnymund." He explained.

Ellie let out an "oh" and nodded her head in understanding as she slowly recalled the guardians' given names that Jamie had told her.

"So, where are we? And what was all of mess back at the library?" Ellie finally asked him, getting up so she could survey her surroundings.

Wherever they were it was daylight, so they defiantly weren't on the east coast anymore. _'Great this is gonna screw me up.'_ Ellie thought bitterly.

"One question at a time shelia, but to answer your first one, this is the Warren." Bunnymund said proudly, hopping up to her, motioning for her to follow him.

Ellie followed the rabbit as she looked around her. It was beautiful; everything was so green and new, even though it had moss covered structures that looked like they had been there since the beginning of time. But then Ellie had to do a double take as she started seeing eggs on little spindly legs walking past them. All in all Ellie thought it was a beautiful place, as they continued to walk, she saw all kinds of flowers and a few of them had the eggs she had seen popping out of them. Bunnymund then began to explain the workings of the Warren to her as they continued to head farther and farther in.

Finally they stopped at a tunnel that was separate and much smaller than the other tunnels that she had seen that were part of the Warren. It was the size of a normal doorway but a little bigger to let the tall pooka walk through without bumping his head. Bunnymund walked into the tunnel and Ellie was quick to follow. They began to pass multiple tunnels that branched off the main one, which led to different rooms. The girl finally realized that this was where Bunnymund made the chocolate eggs and bunnies that he we would leave every Easter along with his beautiful painted eggs. _'Who knows what else he does in here.'_ Ellie continued to try to look in as many different rooms as she could, being careful to not lose sight of Bunnymund.

Finally he stopped in front of a door and opened it. "It's not much but it's not often that I get visitors in the Warren." Ellie peered into the room and saw that it was a bedroom and a small on at that and had the bare necessitates of what a bedroom needs, but regardless the small twin bed looked comfortable.

"Whoa! Hold on. Answer my other question! What was that back there?" Ellie asked him finally, irritated that he was able to dodge her question for so long._ 'Thinks he can avoid the question. Not gonna happen bunny.'_

Bunnymund ran a paw across his face. "Listen shelia. I think it would be best to wait until the others get here first. Pitch can explain it to you then."

"The boogeyman? The guy that I ran into?"

Bunnymund then gave her a funny look and looked like he was about to say something, but changed his mind. "Look, Ellie. You must be exhausted. Why don't you take a quick catnap and by the time you wake up, we'll answer whatever questions you have."

Ellie studied the bunny, she wanted to argue with him and try to convince him to just go ahead and tell her what was going on and why she just got rescued by the Easter Bunny, the boogeyman, and whoever else was with them, but she decided against it and just nodded her head and went in the room and shut the door.

"And if you need anything," Bunnymund spoke through the door, "just ask that little egg on the desk. He'll take care of you."

Ellie then noticed the egg sitting on the desk in the small room. It was defiantly bigger than a normal size egg, and decorated in the pretty pastel colors of Easter. But the strangest thing about the egg was the fact was that it was obviously robotic. But since Ellie didn't need anything at the moment she took her jacket off and kicked her shoes off and lay down on the bed, ignoring the little robotic egg on the desk.

Exhaustion hit her then, but even though she was beyond tired, her mind was going a mile a minute. Ellie had never doubted the guardians existence, her Christmas gifts, and the money she got from the tooth fairy proved that. But the fact that she saw them in person and would soon actually meet them blows her mind. The boogeyman,_ 'Pitch is his name if I remember. The one that tried to get everyone to stop believing in the guardians.' _

Ellie thought back to when she ran into the tall figure back in the library. The look he had when he saw her. Like he already knew her. It would've made sense, but she couldn't ever remember having a nightmare until after her incident that happened during her senior year. Then she started having them every once in awhile. She frowned. _'The boogeyman's job is to give you nightmares, but why would he just start giving them to me after that happened?' _She would just have to ask Pitch about that later, but then her thoughts turned to the cloaked figure she had seen. '_Who the heck was that! Why in the world would anybody go after me? I'm nothing special!' _Ellie grabbed the pillow she was laying on from behind her head and let out a good frustrated scream into it, and then finally flipped so that she was laying on her stomach and stared at the wall in front of her. She was thinking too much and she needed to stop. She decided to give into her exhaustion and have a nice dreamless sleep.

* * *

The Nightmare King and the Guardians, with the exception of North, were finally able to make their way to the Warren after they checked the perimeter of the college to make sure that the cloaked figure had actually left. Once they were sure the man was gone, they made their way the Warren with North instead taking his sleigh back to his workshop, but not before he gave Tooth a snow globe for them to use.

The group walked out of the portal and was greeted by the sight of Bunnymund sitting on a nearby rock painting one of his eggs. The fact that Ellie wasn't with him disturbed him, but he kept his cool. He wanted to see her. _'It's been so long.'_

"Where's the girl?" Tooth asked the pooka, looking around as if she would pop out of nowhere.

"I gave her a room. Figured she could use some sleep." The rabbit answered putting the egg he was working on down and watched as it walked off. "That wasn't Crom that we ran into tonight was it?"

"No." The King of Nightmares shook his head. "Somehow Crom has already begun getting followers."

"That's definitely a problem then." Jack looked at Pitch and jumped on top of his staff. The group muttered their agreement, all looking solemn.

"There's also another problem." Bunnymund finally spoke up, looking at Pitch. "I don't think the shelia remembers you."

Pitch's stomach sank, but he kept his face expressionless. "Why?"

"I mentioned you and she just looked confused." Bunnymund gave him sorrowful look and for the first time felt pity for the dark spirit. But Pitch didn't want Bunnymund's pity or any of the other guardians.

He looked over at short golden man at his side. "Did you know that she had forgotten me?" But the Sandman just looked at Pitch and let him know that he had no clue that the girl didn't remember him. Sanderson then continued to explained that he did watch over the girl at Pitch's request but once he was sure that she was fine he didn't visit her quite as often and that he actually hadn't visited the girl in quite a few years.

_'But she still believed in me.' _Pitch began to feel a spark of hope in his chest._ 'So maybe that's a start.'_ But it still hurt that his one friend had forgotten him and then he's thoughts turned for the worst._ 'Maybe it's for the best that she doesn't remember she was friends with The Nightmare King._'

The King of Nightmares felt the guardians' eyes on him and while he was deep in thought North had even made it back to them with his handy snow globe portals. "We tell her everything except the reason why Crom is after her. She can't know that she's tied to me."

Sanderson Mansnoozie began protesting furiously about that plan. He knew how much this mortal girl meant to Pitch and how torn he was when he left her.

"No!" Pitch yelled at the Sandman in anger. "It's safer for her if she keeps on believing that she's never met me before now." The Nightmare King glared at the surrounding guardians as if daring them to try and make him change his mind. But he was right. On the off chance that Crom did get to her, he would see that the girl clearly didn't know Pitch and maybe he would think that he got the wrong girl. It was highly unlikely but in this situation Pitch had to take every precaution he could to make sure his princess lived.

The guardians and Pitch passed the time and talked of how they would explain things to Eleanor until it began to turn dark in the Warren. The group made their way into the tunnel that Bunnymund took Eleanor in earlier and were currently sitting in what was, if Pitch had to guess, Bunnymund's sitting room. Everything was egg-shaped in the modest sized room, the cushions, the couch, the armchairs, everything.

The group's conversation abruptly stopped when a small clanking noise was heard and walked in a robotic pastel colored egg that was bigger than a chicken egg and had legs that looked too small for its body. It was amazing that the metal egg didn't topple over. But Pitch was more interested in the person that followed behind the egg; Eleanor.

"Am I interrupting something?" She timidly asked. Toothania being the bubbly one out of the group immediately fluttered over to the girl, already invading her personal space.

"Of course not!" Tooth smiled at the girl, "Did you have a good nap? And your teeth are lovely by the way!"

"Umm...yes and thank you?"

Pitch stared at the girl. Her hair color was the same, and her eyes were just as he remembered them. The only difference in the girl that he saw was that she was of course taller, and had a woman's body_. _Ten years did a lot to a person.

Eleanor looked around at everyone in the room, but she stopped on him, but then quickly averted her gaze and looked down.

"So can somebody please tell me what happened back there?" She finally asked them, and as she looked at them again.

North motioned for Pitch to tell her, and she locked her gaze with him again, but it was him who looked away as he focused on a spot on the wall.

"The spirit of Halloween, Crom Cruach, is after you. We're here to protect you."

"Why me though?! What did I do?" She began to ask franticly, clearly getting upset.

"It wasn't anything you did dear one. We aren't entirely sure why he targeted you, but thanks to Tsar Lunar, we know that he has." Pitch spoke to her, keeping his voice calm and even, and his face impassive.

* * *

Ellie couldn't believe this. Some Halloween spirit was after her. She didn't need this. She just wanted to live a normal life, finish college; she has had enough trouble in her life. Couldn't she just win for once?

"You didn't answer my first question. Why does he want me though?" Ellie stared at Pitch, the boogeyman.

He took awhile to answer, as if he wasn't sure that he should.

"Maybe it is best that we tell her." North's Russian accent breaking the silence in the room.

Pitch was still refusing to look at her. "Crom wants to capture you, and you will be the key to him returning to power. The man that you encountered tonight was one of his followers." The tall dark figure explained to her.

Ellie nodded in understanding, and was debating whether or not if she should ask her next question. "And what will happen to me, if he does get a hold of me?"

This time The Nightmare King looked at her, his golden yellow eyes boring into hers, "I won't let that happen, so you don't need to worry about it my dear."

Ellie could only muster a nod. She could tell in that moment that the King of Nightmares would protect her, even though she was still wary of him. She wanted to ask him about her nightmares, but she didn't think it would be best with the others around.

Jack Frost was quick to break the moment, "Well enough of all this seriousness, because Eleanor, we'll find Crom before he finds you. So you have nothing to worry about."

The Nightmare King watched as Eleanor threw him a grateful smile.

"Ellie." She told the winter sprite.

The young spirit gave her a confused look.

"Call me Ellie. Nobody calls me Eleanor."

_'Except me.'_ Pitch thought wistfully.

Pitch watched Eleanor carefully as Sanderson motioned for her to sit beside him on the oval shaped love seat. She did as she was told, but soon was bombarded by questions by Tooth again.

Pitch had to admit that he was grateful for the guardian of memories questions. That meant he didn't have to ask her anything himself. He was able to learn that she was an English major, which didn't surprise him at all. She did babysit that brat and his sister, she also mentioned how she probably wouldn't have even been able to see Jack Frost if it wasn't for him. But then that stupid pooka threw Pitch a glance and asked her a question that The Nightmare King wasn't expecting.

* * *

"Tell us about your childhood shelia."

At that question she paused. "Too be honest I really don't remember much."

It was true; her entire childhood was a blur to her. She didn't know why, but she didn't really care.

"You don't remember anything." Bunnymund prodded, looking her in the eye, which made her uncomfortable.

"No, I don't. I know it's weird, but I just don't." She shrugged, and looked down at her hands, which were clasped, in her lap.

She wasn't lying. She knew key things like, her dad died when she was young, she lived with her mother for a while, until she was dropped off at her aunt and uncle's house. She knew that these things happened, but she didn't remember them happening.

"It's...confusing." She said slowly.

"You remember absolutely nothing about your childhood." Bunnymund pressed again.

"Rabbit, leave the girl alone." Pitch all but growled at him.

Ellie looked up from her hands, and mouthed "thank you" at him, and he just nodded before returning to look at his spot on the wall. Then was grateful when the Sandman decided it was time for everyone to head to bed.

Bunnymund ordered Ellie's egg to take her back to her room, while the rest of them figured out what their plan of action is for tomorrow.

* * *

Pitch didn't speak until he was sure that Eleanor was out of earshot.

"What the hell was that rabbit?!" He turned, summoning his scythe as he pressed it up to the pooka's throat.

"Hey! I was trying to do you favor!" He yelled at him, "Not that you deserve it." He glared at him.

"How was asking the girl about her childhood doing me a favor?!" The King of Nightmares continued to glare at the guardian of hope. He was clearly furious and now everyone in the room was on edge.

Sanderson, once again stepped between the two and was able to coax Pitch to get rid of his scythe.

Bunnymund glared at Pitch, "I figured by asking her about her childhood, we would be able to figure out why she doesn't remember you."

"Well it didn't work now, did it rabbit?" Pitch was pissed. "All I know now is that she doesn't have _any_ memory of her childhood."

Tooth took this as a chance to step in. "You know Pitch, I could go get her baby teeth. That way she could remember you."

Pitch hadn't thought of that, while it was tempting and he was really considering it. "No." He answered her.

"Why not? You want her to remember you don't you?" The guardian of fun spoke up, irritated.

"It's best that she doesn't, Frost."

"Why not?"

"It's the safest option. On the off chance that Crom does get his hands on Eleanor. If she doesn't have any memory of me maybe he'll think he got the wrong girl."

"That's a stupid reason." The winter sprite deadpanned. "I'm pretty sure, even if Crom got Ellie, he would definitely know it was her, especially after we saved her tonight."

Pitch cursed. Frost was right.

"Regardless. I don't want her remembering me."

Frost just rolled his eyes at him. "Whatever. Do what you want."

"There will be no more talk about giving Eleanor her memories. Is that understood?" Pitch ordered, and then locked eyes with the guardian of memories, as if telepathically telling her that if she even mentioned that she could give the girl her memories back, there would be dire consequences. But it seemed that she understood as she just nodded at him.

North took this moment to break the tension, "Now that we've got that settled. Here's the plan for tomorrow. Jack, Tooth, and I will search for Crom's hideout tomorrow. While you, " The Russian pointed at Pitch, "Sandman, and Bunnymund will stay here and guard the girl." The three nodded their consent.

North, Tooth, and Jack took their leave so they could go to their respectable homes and prepare for tomorrow. Bunnymund gave Sandy and Pitch guest rooms, and while before Pitch would have scoffed at the Bunny's generosity and would have preferred to just simply going back to his lair, and come back in the morning. He found that he just couldn't bring himself to leave Eleanor's protection in just the hands of Bunnymund and Sanderson. He didn't miss the smirk the pooka gave him, when he gave Pitch the room beside the girl's. Pitch wasn't sure if he should be secretly grateful that he would be near incase something happened, or be sure to give the rabbit a well deserved nightmare.

Pitch wouldn't sleep tonight, not that he needed it. He summoned a few of his nightmares from the shadows and gave them instructions to patrol the perimeter of the Warren and told a few others to go to a few select countries to spread some fear. Once he was done giving them orders, he let out a sigh as he sat in a chair.

His mind was in complete disarray. So much had happened today. From putting his dislike of the guardians aside to being united with the girl he had missed for ten years, but only to find out she didn't remember him.

But he couldn't let that fact bother him. He told those meddling guardians that he didn't want her remembering him, and he had to stick to his decision. It would be better for the both of them this way. It was his punishment. He was pretty sure she wouldn't have given him a warm welcome if she did remember him.

* * *

**So I hope you all liked this chapter, and there is a reason for Ellie not remembering Pitch, and you will find out why in later chapters! So please review if you feel like it and leave constructive criticism! If you don't, well I hope you like my story anyway! Also I would love to get to know some of my readers so if you have a tumblr find me! The link to mine is in my profile, so please don't hesitate to say hello! **


	7. Chapter 7

**I didn't give up on this story I promise! I've just been really busy, whenever I graduated from college, I started my new job and it's been keeping me super busy and I've been learning how to be a grown up now lol. It's so sad! But anyways I'm thankful for my beta, Lucerna Tenebris for being patient! And also for the reviews! A shout out to vixen1991, LuluCalliope, ObsidianLove, Dontgotaclue88, Raychoo, and shadowkitten12!  
I don't anything except my oc!**

* * *

Ellie's eyes fluttered open. At first she had no clue where she was, but then it all came back to her. The spirit of Halloween was after her and nobody knew why. She moved so that she was sitting at the edge of the bed and ran a hand across her face as she stared at the wall in thought.

She had no clue what time it was. Her cellphone was in her bag and she had dropped it at the library. She let out a groan; Lily had to be freaking out. She would be the only person that would care if something had happened to her and she knew the poor blonde would be sick to her stomach with worry. She needed to go back to her apartment. She had to grab a couple of things from there if the guardians expected her to stay with them while they sorted this whole Crom mess out.

She didn't know how she was going to convince any of them to take her back to Burgess. But first things first, she needed to brush her teeth and take a nice hot shower. Ellie walked up to her little egg companion that was on the desk.

She honestly hated asking it to do stuff for her. It was really awkward. "Umm...do you know where I can brush my teeth and take a shower?"

Like the night before, when she asked it to take her to Bunnymund, the little egg stood up on eggs too thin for its body and took her to what she assumed was a guest bathroom. The egg directed her to towels and an extra toothbrush and then walked outside to wait for her like a perfect gentleman.

The brunette adjusted her water to her preferred temperature and quickly stripped her clothes and let out a contented sigh as the hot water met her skin. She let herself relax a bit and then went through the routine of washing her hair and her body. She wrapped one of Bunnymund's comfy towels around her body and began brushing her teeth as well. She probably should've asked Bunnymund if it was alright if she could use his stuff, but she didn't feel like finding him in his maze of a home. She would just thank him later.

Ellie grimaced as she put her clothes back on. She hated wearing the same clothes twice in a row, especially if she slept in them the night before, but it wasn't like she did that often. She would have to talk to one of the guardians and see if they would take her back to her apartment a.s.a.p.

Her egg was still sitting outside the door when she came out and asked him nicely to take her to the others.

She followed the egg outside into the Warren and found Pitch with his back to them as he surveyed his surroundings. She studied him for a moment. She was amazed at how tall he was. She wasn't sure who was taller, him or Bunnymund. She was beginning to wonder if this really was the evil boogeyman that Jamie had told her about, he had been nothing but nice to her since she ran into him at the library. He even said that he wouldn't let Crom take her. He was going to protect her.

* * *

Pitch looked down when Eleanor's egg bumped into his leg and turned around to find the brunette staring at him. She looked down quickly, blushing, but continued to walk towards him until she was a foot away.

"Where are Sandy, and Bunnymund?"

"Sandy is watching the skies above the Warren, and Bunnymund is patrolling his tunnels."

"So, you're my babysitter." She deadpanned.

He gave her a sideways glance, "Yes."

He watched her as she took a deep breath. He could sense her nervousness and wondered what she was so anxious about. Finally she opened her mouth, "I need to go back to my apartment."

"Absolutely not." He responded back without a moment's hesitation.

"Why not?! I've just got to go and get a few things and we'll come right back!" She whined the last part. He rolled his eyes, her whining bringing back memories for him when she would beg him not to leave when she was younger.

"The only reason, that Crom's henchmen haven't found you yet is because Tsar Lunar's magic is protecting this place. We risk going back to you're apartment and we could risk being attacked on the spot." He explained calmly, hopping she would let the subject drop.

She frowned at him, "I doubt they're going to attack us that quick. Besides I know exactly what I need to get and I promise it'll only take five minutes, please!" She clasped her hands in front of her chest, begging him.

He gave her a stern look. "No."

She looked down and let out a frustrated sigh, before putting her hand on her hip, and glaring up at him. "Well then you get me some clothes then, because I'm not staying in these the whole time I'm here." She gestured at her current clothing.

He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. She was right, she needed clothes, and the chances of Crom's men attacking her again so soon were slim. But he still didn't want to take the chance.

"Please Pitch." He was brought out of his thoughts by her voice. "I really need to get some clothes and I have to let my roommate know that I'm okay." He looked down at her. Her grey eyes looked into his, begging him to take her back.

"Fine. You have five minutes and not a second more." He was amazed that he would still give into her so easily after all this time.

"Yes!" She clapped her hands in excitement. "But first," He interrupted her clapping "I need to find Sanderson or the rabbit. It wouldn't bode well for either of us, if they came back to find the both of us gone." The girl nodded her head in understanding and watched in amazement when one of his nightmares trotted up to him. He was secretly happy with her fascination at the creature. "Go find Sanderson for me will you, tell him I need to speak with him." The creature nodded its head in obedience and cantered off in the direction of the Sandman.

An awkward silence fell on the two. "So…you're the one that got me to briefly stop believing in the guardians last year?"

Pitch glared at her. He couldn't believe that she would ask him that, but maybe it would be easier to distance himself from her if she was scared of him. "Yes." He answered her simply. He watched as she just nodded her head. "Why? I mean you've been very uhhh…I don't know nice to me." He rolled his eyes at her. He wasn't about to explain himself to her. "Because I wanted to." He looked her in the eyes as he said this. He wanted her to believe that he was evil, but he should've realized that whole idea was thrown out the window that moment he said he would protect her.

"I don't believe you." She was frowning at him. He stared at her. Even after being separated from him so long and not remembering him. She could still tell when he was being dishonest. Before he could retort however, Sanderson decided to grace them with his presence. He was currently floating on his cloud and waved happily at Eleanor.

"Sanderson, I'm taking Eleanor back to her home to gather some things. We will be back shortly and if we aren't back within ten minutes, you and the rabbit make haste."

The Sandman just saluted him, and communicated that he would let bunny know before he floated away on his cloud.

"So, how are we going to get there?" She asked him excited once again, "Are we going through the tunnels, or riding your creepy black horse?"

"No my dear. We're going to go by shadow." He smirked at her.

"And how do we do that?" She questioned him, looking unsure.

He held out his hand to her. She looked at it for a moment, looking as if it was going to bite her before she tentatively placed her hand in his.

* * *

Ellie let out a gasp as he pulled her to him. He wrapped one arm tightly around her shoulders and the other around her waist. Her hands were up against his chest and she could feel how tone he was through his robe. She could feel her face warm up, and she hoped Pitch couldn't see her blushing. They were so close together.

Ellie watched in amazement as Pitch's shadow begin to envelop them. She instinctively clutched Pitch's robe as everything became cool, and dark.

It felt like they were nowhere. Like they were somehow just floating in some weird way, the only thing that was solid was Pitch, who was holding her tightly against him.

The whole trip more then likely took a whole ten seconds. They were now standing outside her apartment door.

"Your five minutes starts now." Pitch told her.

Ellie quickly grabbed their spare key that was hidden under the welcome mat, and unlocked the door. She went right to her room and grabbed her teal duffle bag from under her bed and began packing.

Pitch strolled into the apartment. He supposes it was a typical two-bedroom apartment. The kitchen and den were open. His golden eyes roamed over the recliner and couch in front of the TV. The place was clean except for the dirty dishes in the sink, there were a few posters adorning the walls of mortal movies that he had never watched. He guessed it was for the lack of paint on the walls. He followed Eleanor into her room and saw that her room was a different story. It was messy. The bed's sheets and comforter thrown onto the floor and there were clothes that instead of being in the hamper, they just surrounded it. He took in the paintings and drawings on the walls.

"Did you do these?" He asked even though he knew the answer.

Eleanor didn't even glance up from stuffing her bag. "Yeah. Drawing is kind of a hobby of mine."

Pitch just nodded even though the girl couldn't see him. He just looked at the drawings of mythical creatures, a small portion devoted to a few of her friends he guessed. He recognized the blonde girl he saw briefly before in one of them.

The Nightmare King turned his attention back to his companion when she started hitting a few of the floorboards with her fist. He watched in amazement as one of them popped up, and she removed a small box from beneath it. He moved quickly to stand behind her. His curiosity piqued, but was disappointed when she didn't open the box and just simply put it in her bag with the rest of her things, but not without making sure it wouldn't move around too much, as if to protect whatever the box held.

"You're running out of time." He said as he sat on her unmade bed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Eleanor opened a door to the left of her bed, revealing a closet and began rummaging around in there, making quite a racket.

Pitch was ready to get back to the Warren. The longer they stayed, the uneasier he was getting. He liked the way she fit into his arms when he held her to him on the way here. Another reason why he was ready to get back to the Warren. He wanted her in his arms again. He let out an irritated sigh. It was like he was taking two steps forward and one step back. One moment he would make the decision to push her away, be content without having her remember him, but in reality he wanted her to remember him, so that they could somehow continue their friendship that they had before. But he knew that was just a dream that would never happen.

He was surprised that he couldn't find the elephant that she used to always have with her when she was younger. But he couldn't ask her what happened to it, or why that she asked for that specific stuffed elephant for Christmas every year. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door to the apartment slam shut. He tensed and he heard Eleanor stop shuffling around in her closet.

"Shit." Eleanor whispered, quietly as she could the girl stuffed more things into her bag.

The Nightmare King moved to grab her so that they could get back to Bunnymand and Sanderson before whoever or whatever was in the apartment found them.

"Ellie?" The pair looked up at the same time to see, Eleanor's smaller blonde roommate.

"Ellie!" The blonde quickly ran up to her, and gave her a bone-crushing hug, but quickly released her and slapped her on the arm. "What hell! Where have you been?!"

"Lily, I..." But before she could continue the girl continued to yell at her. "I have been worried sick! What's going on?! The freaking video feed from the security camera last night has been playing on the news everywhere!" The girl was getting more angry and frustrated the more she went on, and getting louder with every word. "You were pulled, and then you went down this hole, and oh my gosh!" Lily slapped her hands on her sides with frustration.

Pitch frowned. This wasn't good, especially if the mortals somehow got involved.

"Lily, I can't tell you what's going on right now, and it's best if you didn't know." Ellie tried to explain to her flustered friend, as calmly as she could.

"No Ellie!" Lily pointed a finger at her. "You are not keeping secrets from me again! You almost died once by hiding things from me, don't do it again!" Ellie felt the color from her face drain at Lily's words. Pitch didn't need to hear that.

"Let me help you." Her best friend pleaded, Ellie couldn't speak so the girl went on, taking a deep breath before she continued, "I know you've been having nightmares. You've got to stop keeping things from me. I'm your best friend, I care about you."

Ellie couldn't speak. She couldn't think. She didn't want Pitch to hear this. It was too personal too private. Yeah she was going to eventually ask him about her nightmares, but she was going to work up to it. Nobody knew about her nightmares. She couldn't believe that Lily knew. She looked toward Pitch, breaking eye contact with Lily and saw him staring intently at her, frowning, his eyes full of a sadness that she couldn't comprehend.

"I need to go." She was thankful that Pitch got the message. She grabbed her bag, and Lily started spewing out protests and yelling at her to stop, that she didn't need to go anywhere, but it was useless. Pitch grabbed her like he did before, this time clutching her much more tightly, and then they were gone.

* * *

**Sorry this was pretty short, but the good news is that I'm already working on the next chapter! And feel free to bother me on tumblr, the link is on my profile, and sorry for those of you who saw that train wreck that was my ParaNorman fanfic, well don't worry I completely scraped it, and once I'm finish with this I'm going to go back to it and rewrite it! But anyways I'm working diligently on the next chapter and if you think I'm taking to long feel free to yell at me, it will honestly motivate me to hurry up! Anyways, till next time!**


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